About a month had passed since arriving at the Butterfly Mansion.
The hellish rehabilitation training at the Butterfly Mansion, the painful time to learn Total Concentration: Constant, had come to an end.
Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had finished preparing to leave the mansion, their bodies and breathing now incomparably stronger than before.
"Tanjiro-san! Zenitsu-san! Inosuke-san! Take care of yourselves!"
"Make sure you come back alive!"
Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho saw them off. Tanjiro bowed deeply, touched by their warm hearts.
"Thank you! Thanks to all of you, I was able to grow stronger!"
And then, to Kanao.
"I wonder what state you'll come back in next time. I'm looking forward to it."
"Ahaha, thank you, Kanao-san."
"Well, I've spent a whole month on you. I hope you'll work hard."
For some reason, an oppressive feeling. Tanjiro gave an awkward smile as he bowed, and they moved on.
'Rengoku-san said he was assigned to investigate the Infinity Train and left. So, it's going according to fate. It'll proceed as Father planned.'
Watching Tanjiro's group depart, Kanao smiled.
The scene shifts briefly to the past, the president's office at Akatsuki Trading Company headquarters.
Before him, after setting down a business report, stood a woman clad in a red cloak.
"So, what's the job for me? Master."
Oda Nobunaga.
"The time has come. According to Kanao, Rengoku Kyojuro is heading for the Infinity Train."
"Ah~ The Infinity Train, huh? So, it's time to hunt an Upper Moon?"
"Yeah. It might not be Akaza, but it's a train with a Hashira on it. Muzan will definitely send an Upper Moon for cleanup."
At those words, Nobunaga grinned mischievously.
"Keh heh heh, finally my turn to step in. I hope it's someone worth fighting."
"You'll have plenty of fun. And kill him. Since I'll be taking Hantengu, if an Upper Moon dies, an Upper Moon gathering will happen soon. That's when we secure Nakime."
"Ah~ It's finally a full-scale battle. Well, a prelude, but still."
"Right. Kill the Upper Moon, and if we go to the Infinity Castle through Hantengu. Kill Hantengu, and we can kill the ones there too. Just secure Nakime; we can let Muzan escape. In fact, we should let him escape. I'll slowly tighten the noose around his neck."
The Infinity Train incident was an opportunity for him. A chance to definitely meet an Upper Moon.
"Whether it's Enmu or another Lower Moon, if we kill them roughly, an Upper Moon will come, so wait nearby until then."
"Ah~ Leave it to me. But, that Enmu guy has a Blood Demon Art that manipulates dreams, right? It's a pretty good ability. Aren't you recruiting him?"
"I am. When he fuses with the train and his head is cut off, pieces of flesh will fall off. If you find a piece with an eye that looks like his main body, inject this into it. It's my blood."
Akira handed over a syringe containing his blood. He didn't like Enmu's personality, but that Blood Demon Art was useful.
"Alright~ I'll handle it well."
She laughed boldly, opened the window, mounted her musket, and soared high into the sky.
"Finally, it's soon."
Akira couldn't hide his excitement as the time for revenge drew nearer. To calm that excitement, he decided to call Kanae, who was at headquarters.
And at the train station.
The massive steam locomotive, the Infinity Train, was entering the station, belching black smoke.
Its huge body made of iron, the chugging sound, the steam it spewed. A symbol of civilization's progress, and an object of terror for country boys.
Inosuke got excited seeing the train, snorting and showing his competitive spirit, while Tanjiro wondered if it might be the local guardian deity.
Amusingly, Zenitsu was the only normal one here.
"Headlong charge!!"
Inosuke lowered his head and charged at the train's side.
Clang!!
A dull metallic sound echoed. Of course, the train wasn't scratched, and only Inoske staggered back.
"Ow, ow! It's super tough skin!"
"Calm down, Inosuke! That's not a living thing! It's called a train! A vehicle!"
Zenitsu hurriedly stopped Inosuke, shouting. He was so embarrassed by the stares of people around him that he wanted to die.
"Plus, station staff are coming! We have swords! If we get caught, it'll be a disaster!"
At Zenitsu's words, Tanjiro adjusted the box Nezuko was carrying, led his companions, and hid in the darkness.
The reason they came here without a mission was because Tanjiro wanted to meet Rengoku. They came after receiving information that he was boarding this Infinity Train.
"Sigh, I'll buy the tickets."
After many twists and turns, the three barely managed to jump onto the last car of the departing train.
The inside of the train was filled with a strange atmosphere. Passengers weary with fatigue, dim electric lights, rattling vibrations.
That's when it happened. An incredibly loud voice came from the front of the passenger car.
"Delicious! Delicious! Delicious!"
When Tanjiro's group opened the door and entered, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
A man with flame-like hair had stacked lunchboxes like a mountain and was shouting "Delicious!" loudly with every bite. The Flame Hashira, Rengoku Kyojuro.
"Um, Flame Hashira-sama?"
Tanjiro cautiously spoke up.
"Hmm! It's you! Kamado boy!"
Rengoku turned toward Tanjiro, not caring about the flying rice grains. His eyes were wide and fierce, his energy as hot as the sun.
"Well met! And the yellow-haired boy and the boar-headed boy too!"
"Um, Rengoku-san. I wanted to ask you something."
And so, Tanjiro's group joined up with the Hashira.
And watching from afar, Nobunaga.
"Ha~am. How boring. That must be Tanjiro. He sure is a peculiar one."
She was observing the events unfolding on the Infinity Train.
Tanjiro, who even after falling under Enmu's Blood Demon Art, beheaded him in a dream, awakened, and attacked Enmu.
As Akira predicted, Enmu's arrival remained unchanged.
"He won in the end. But even after killing a Lower Moon, they say he didn't become a Hashira? The Demon Slayer Corps folks have no conscience."
And Nobunaga, who knew the future through Akira, found it absurd.
In the end, it was Tanjiro who beheaded Enmu. Even after killing Lower Moon One, even with a Hashira vacancy, Tanjiro didn't become a Hashira.
It wasn't like there were other Hashira candidates, so the Demon Slayer Corps' ways were truly strange.
Anyway, as planned, Tanjiro finally cut off Enmu's head.
The rampage that had broken out was suppressed by the Hashira inside the train, and the bodies fused with the train fell apart.
"Oops~ Time to work."
Nobunaga moved swiftly and found Enmu's main body.
And then, Nobunaga found the piece of flesh with the Lower Moon's eye lying in the forest. She immediately injected it. Since it might be too much in this state, she injected only a tiny amount.
However, the flesh that was Enmu writhed, swelled, and began to boil.
"Hmm, since he said that injecting blood will eventually tame it, I'll let it slide. The important thing isn't this, anyway."
Leaving the transforming Enmu behind, she headed to where the real main event was happening.
Boom!!
The battle between Kyojuro and Akaza.
Now Upper Moon Two, Akaza. Akira said another Upper Moon might come, but as if fate existed, Akaza came.
Perhaps because he was Upper Moon Two, Akaza overwhelmed Kyojuro more than Akira knew.
"Hmm, he's about to die."
Nobunaga watched the intense battle between the two.
Kyojuro had lost an eye, broken ribs, and suffered severe internal injuries. Other things could heal over time, but the eye was impossible.
As the end approached, just as Kyojuro gathered his spirit to use his ultimate technique.
Crash!!!!
A flame fell from the sky like a meteor.
At the sudden event, everyone's gaze focused there.
Revealing herself from the dust of the impact, Nobunaga.
"What are you? Human? Or a demon?"
Akaza frowned and spoke to her.
"Whoever you are, I don't fight women. Get lost."
Displeased, he stated that he doesn't fight women, no matter who they are.
"Kihih!"
Looking at such an Akaza, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven laughed.
The composure of a true predator, an absolute apex being.
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